Virtually all bicycles have adjustable seat posts for adjusting the bicycle seat to the rider's desired position. Generally, seat posts slide inside the upright seat post receiving shaft of the bicycle frame and are locked into position with a clamp. It is essential to fix the seat in the proper position, in which maximum pedal leverage and energy efficiency are attained. Lower positions place excessive stress on the knees, and higher positions cause the rider to rock from side to side to reach the bottom of the pedal stroke, causing lower back strain.
Experienced bicycle riders change their body position based on terrain and road configuration, and often need additional seat heights for their different positions. For example, on steep descents, the rider needs a lower center of gravity to keep the back of the bicycle on the ground. Currently, when reaching a hill, the rider must stop the bicycle, loosen a clamp, change the seat height, and then tighten the clamp. This process is repeated whenever a seat height change is required. In addition to being time consuming, changing the seat height adds unnecessary and disruptive breaks to the ride.
In the U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,039, issued to Hawker, a spring-loaded seat support is described. The seat support disclosed by Hawker is adaptable to a bicycle frame and allows the bicycle seat to move up or down. However, the seat support does not provide a way to position and lock a bicycle seat into up or down positions, but rather serves as a shock absorbing seat support.
U.S. Pat. No. 510,993, issued to Riess, describes a spring-loaded seat support mechanism used to raise a seat from an initial depressed position. Before mounting the bicycle, the rider must manually adjust the seat to the lower position. The seat then automatically rises to the preferred height when the rider exerts pressure on the seat. Because the seat mechanism only works in one direction, it is not very useful for riders needing to raise and lower the seat without stopping the bicycle.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,644,504, issued to Vick, discloses a bicycle seat adjusting device that enables a rider to adjust the seat in both directions while riding. The device is relatively large, has many working parts and would be difficult to manufacture or fix. In addition, the device requires a polygonal seat post, rather than a standard cylindrical seat post.
An adjustable seat support that is capable of adjusting a seat height while a bicycle is in motion has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,851, issued to Cienfuegos. The seat support described is not readily transferable from one bicycle to another because the mechanism for adjusting the seat height is an integral part of the bicycle frame itself. In a later patent issued to Cienfuegos. U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,592, this problem is overcome with an independent seat replacement unit that consolidates all of the parts of the seat support. However, this design places the locking and positioning portion of the seat support at a position near the horizontal portion of the bicycle frame. Mountain bicycles are designed with low frames and long seat posts, such that there is significant distance between the horizontal portion of the bicycle frame and the bicycle seat. A locking and positioning portion of a seat support system attached near the horizontal frame portion of the bicycle can be very difficult for the rider to reach while the bicycle is in motion and may cause the rider to lose balance while attempting to change the seat position. Further, since the locking and positioning mechanism changes its location relative to the rider with each new seat position, the rider will have to search for location of the locking and positioning mechanism while riding, again making the seat adjustment procedure unsafe. Also, the seat support device described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,592 extends far into the upright seat post receiving shaft of the bicycle frame, which is not possible with all bicycle frame designs.
None of the prior art devices meets the requirements of adaptability, portability, and ease of use, wherein the seat support has a locking and positioning portion that is independent of the bicycle frame and remains in a constant, easily reachable position relative to the bicycle seat. Therefore, there is still need for a commercially viable option that satisfies the stated requirements.